Join BookPeople for a day of programming celebrating the magic power of reading! In partnership with Austin Public Library, PEN America, and Children’s Defense Fund.
A Banned Camp Storytime
10:30AM - 11:00AM
Join us in the BookPeople kids amphitheater for a Banned Books themed storytime featuring books that have been banned or challenged. Can you guess which one was challenged and why? Help our littlest readers engage with the conversation around intellectual freedom while supporting their early literacy!
Banned Camp Crafternoon with Austin Public Library and Children's Defense Fund
11:00AM -1:00PM
Make a Banned Book Bookmark Art Piece or Zine! Great for kids and adults.
Join us for a fun afternoon of Intellectual-Freedom themed crafting!
Austin Public Library will have supplies so you can make a bookmark inspired by the theme of Banned Books to add to a community mural project and bookmark contest. Prizes will be awarded on October 31 for top bookmark designs by age category city-wide.
Children's Defense Fund will show you how to make DIY magazines (“zines”) and make your voice heard in support of the freedom to read. Learn about the history of zine-making and take home your own zine expressing your stories and ideas.
Books Are Magic: A Special Magic Show with Nicole Cardoza
11:30AM-12:00PM
Nicole Cardoza (she/her) is a magician and storyteller. As a performer, Nicole shares her perspective on stage magic, the history and future of Black magicians, and encourages us to find the magic inherent in us all. She’s collaborated with brands including Google, Patreon, and Soho House. She’s toured the country and performed at universities, exclusive venues, for corporations and private events.
She’s also the founder of Reclamation Ventures, a venture studio creating and incubating ideas for our collective wellbeing. It also manages the Reclamation Ventures Fund, which provides philanthropic and early-stage investments in individuals and organizations making wellness more accessible. Over the past two years, it’s granted over $500,000 in direct support to marginalized wellness leaders.
Nicole’s first published book, Mindful Moves, a mindfulness book for children, was published in Spring 2021.
@blackgirlmagician on IG, TikTok and YouTube
The Magic Power of Reading: Panel Discussion Hosted by PEN America
12:00PM -1:00PM
As we spend the day celebrating free expression, we also acknowledge that the freedom to read is under assault as prohibitions on books proliferate across the county in classrooms, school districts, and libraries. The freedom to read ensures students have access to a diversity of views and expressions, public schools and libraries serve the educational process by making knowledge and ideas available, and books remain available regardless of the personal or political ideologies of some.
In this session, members of the PEN America Freedom to Read team will present research findings about the book ban crisis and its effects on students, schools, libraries, and booksellers in Texas. PEN America will be joined by local coalition leaders who are pushing back against book bans in defense of the freedom to read. Leaders like Carolyn Foote of FReadom Fighters will talk about ways to get involved locally in your own schools and communities.
Books Are Magic Teen Workshop with Magician Nicole Cardoza [SEPARATE REGISTRATION REQUIRED]
12:00 PM -1:00 PM
Thank you for supporting Austin Public Library, PEN America, Children’s Defense Fund and your local independent bookstore!